£500,000 refurbishment and new operators to bring Peak District pub and restaurant back to life

Work to renovate The Greyhound at Cromford – which has been closed since December 2025 – will begin in August and is expected to take around eight weeks.

The historic Market Place Inn, built by Richard Arkwright in 1778, is being revived through joint major investment by Admiral Taverns, working closely with incoming operators Greg and Sarah Dufton.

Greg and Sarah live locally with their two young sons. Greg is the owner of Belong Bar in Derby, named Best Bar in the Marketing Derby Food and Drink Awards for the past two years. Sarah’s career spans several consumer-led marketing and communications roles, including editor of the Middle East editions of celebrity lifestyle magazines OK! and HELLO!

The couple spent two decades in Dubai, creating quality entertainment concepts for venues including Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts and Atlantis The Palm.

Their aim in Cromford is to generate a warm, characterful and premium-yet-approachable pub, restaurant and rooms offering that serves the community and reflects its unique position at the heart of Cromford.

Greg said: “The Greyhound is a landmark building in a village with an incredible history, and we know how much people care about what happens next.

“Cromford and the surrounding area is stunning, and has so much to offer. We want The Greyhound to give people another reason to visit, stay longer, and see Cromford as the destination it deserves to be.”

Sarah said: “The Greyhound doesn’t just sit in Cromford. It is Cromford.

“We know people care deeply about both its past and its future, and we feel the responsibility that comes with that.

“Our job now is to take all the planning, all the ambition, and all the belief behind this project, and turn it into a place local people can feel genuinely proud of.

“Cromford has been waiting for this. And so have we.”

The refurbishment project will cover the pub, bar, dining spaces, kitchen, nine guest bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms, and external terrace.

Customers can expect a fully-renewed Greyhound to reopen this autumn, designed to work across the whole day – from coffee stops, breakfast and lunch to drinks, dinner, events, overnight stays and destination trips.

Kiernan Lynch, regional operations director at Admiral Taverns, said: “The Greyhound is a very special pub and hotel, and we are delighted to be working with Greg and Sarah as it moves into an exciting new era.

“They bring the experience, energy and commerciality needed for a building of this importance, and we have really enjoyed collaborating with them over recent months to make sure the plans reflect both the opportunity of the site, and its importance to Cromford.

“We are always keen to invest in our pubs to ensure their long term futures, and our initial £450k investment Admiral set aside for this project showed our confidence in The Greyhound – with so many passionate poeple now part of the team, this amount has been far exceeded. As work prepares to begin, we are excited to move from months of careful planning into delivery, and to continue working with Greg and Sarah as The Greyhound enters the next major stage.”

Cllr Steve Hassall, who has led a campaign to save The Greyhound, said: “This is clearly a very significant and welcome development for Cromford. A half-million-pound investment and the appointment of new operators is exactly the kind of commitment residents and local businesses have been pressing for over many months.

“The Greyhound is not just another pub. It is a much-loved Grade II* listed building in the heart of one of Derbyshire’s most important heritage villages, and it has enormous potential to support tourism, local employment and the wider village economy.

“I am pleased that Admiral Taverns now appears to have recognised both the scale of the challenge and the importance of getting this right. Residents have been extremely patient, but also determined, and the public meeting, continued correspondence, media attention and sustained community pressure have all helped ensure that The Greyhound could not simply be allowed to drift.

“That said, the announcement must now be followed by visible action. The community will want to see the promised investment delivered in full, the refurbishment carried out to a standard appropriate to the building and location, and the new operators given every reasonable chance to succeed.

“There will also remain understandable concern about the commercial pressures created by Admiral’s tied model. The long-term success of The Greyhound will depend not only on the quality of the building and the capability of the operators, but also on whether they are given a sustainable and competitive trading arrangement.

“For now, this is an important and positive step forward. I genuinely hope it marks the start of a new chapter for The Greyhound and that it can finally become the flagship hospitality venue Cromford deserves.”